TRANSCRIPT
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, has used some of his strongest language yet to describe Israel.
At an emergency meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Doha, he described Israel’s recent strike as state terrorism.
The attack killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, and left civilians injured.
Sheikh Mohammed accused Israel of trying to uproot Palestinians entirely.
“It is time for the international community to stop applying double standards and punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed. Israel should understand that its genocidal wars that target our brotherly Palestinians with the goal of uprooting them from their own land and displace them will not succeed no matter what Israel says to justify it.”]]
He says the attack in Doha violated not only Qatar’s sovereignty but also international law, as it struck near schools, housing and diplomatic missions.
“We cannot describe this aggression except that it is state terror in an approach pursued by the current extremist Israeli government, which flouts international law, and targets the security of the region while brutally challenging the international legitimacy.”
That message set the stage for the wider Arab-Islamic summit opening in Doha, with foreign ministers working through the weekend to draft a resolution.
The summit, bringing together members of both the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, is intended as a unified show of defiance.
Sheikh Mohammed told delegates that Israel’s actions had confirmed its rejection of peaceful solutions.
”This aggression will only lead to a rejection of the attempts for calm and confirm the intentions of the Israeli government to reject peaceful trajectories to end the Palestinian issue and to continue to challenge the international will and United Nations conventions. It is also clear from repeated statements of the Israeli officials on the intention to annex the land of the great Palestinian people and illusions of a ‘Greater Israel'.“
He added that Qatar would not tolerate any breach of its sovereignty.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit backed him up with a fiery rebuke.
“The message of this summit, which must reach everyone loud and clear, is solidarity with Qatar, Doha, from the Arab and Islamic worlds, against the aggression of the occupying Israeli state - this aggression which combines cowardice, treachery, and foolishness.”
According to Reuters, a draft resolution condemns Israel’s strike as a destabilising escalation.
But at least for now, it avoids mention of sanctions or direct punitive measures.
While Arab and Islamic leaders debate, Israel has shown no sign of backing down.
Instead, its government is doubling down on its alliance with Washington.
On the same day Arab ministers were meeting in Doha, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted U-S Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
The two men, joined by their wives, visited the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, in a show of unity.
Netanyahu praised the alliance.
“I think his visit here is a testament to the durability, the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s as strong and as durable as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched. Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger. And we deeply appreciate it. Not only on behalf of the people of Israel today and generations of Jews that preceded us, and hope that we’ve built our state anew with friends like you. Thank you.”
Mr Rubio’s visit comes amid tensions between Washington and Jerusalem.
President Donald Trump had publicly rebuked Mr Netanyahu for failing to warn the US before striking Doha.
Yet Mr Rubio insisted his presence was proof that the alliance remains intact.
Behind the scenes, though, his mission is more complex.
Mr Rubio told reporters before flying out that he wants answers on Israel’s long-term strategy in Gaza, especially how it plans to deal with hostages and the humanitarian fallout.
"The US- Israeli relationship is very strong. It continues to be strong. The president wants this conflict to end. He wants all the hostages out, all 48 of them - living and deceased. Obviously we're concerned that events last week… he didn't like the way it went down. He expressed that publicly. There's concern that perhaps that could… We'll talk about, you know, what impact it's going to have on efforts to get all the hostages back, get rid of Hamas, end this war. That's the president's priority."
Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces pressure at home.
Israel says 48 hostages remain in Gaza, with only 20 believed to still be alive.
Families of captives have staged protests in Tel Aviv demanding action, adding to political pressure on his government.
And in Gaza itself, the war continues with devastating consequences.
On Sunday, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across Gaza City, flattening several high-rise buildings.
Residents were told to evacuate, sometimes less than an hour before the strikes.
Videos verified by the Associated Press showed families rushing out, throwing belongings from balconies, and shouting to one another in panic.
One resident can be heard yelling in Arabic: “Go people, go!”
Another video captured the moment an airstrike struck near the Islamic University, sending smoke and debris billowing into the air.
The Israeli military claim Hamas was using the towers as observation posts and staging grounds.
Officials said precision munitions and surveillance were used to minimise civilian casualties, though they offered no evidence for the claims.
Defence Minister Israel Katz posted online that the skyline of Gaza is, in his words, changing.
This comes as Palestinian Oscar-winning director Basel Adra says Israeli soldiers conducted a raid at his home in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, searching for him and going through his wife’s phone.
Mr Adra claims Israeli settlers attacked his village, injuring two of his brothers and one cousin.
"They (Israeli soldiers) prevented other family members like my sisters, my father, to be with my wife in the home. They detained them in the street and then they also moved and invade my family house, which is just like 50 metres away from here. They searched the IDs, the phones and the house."
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than *64,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, with about half of the dead said to be women and children.
